Kyle Busch takes fourth win of 2011 at Michigan and secures Chase spot

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver claimed the lead from his Hendrick Motorsports rival, who had been up front since the penultimate restart with 13 laps remaining, thanks to a timely final pitstop right before the last caution that placed him ahead once the frontrunners pitted for the last time.

Johnson initially took advantage of the battle for second place following the penultimate restart but as Busch was able to get the better of Hendrick's Jeff Gordon and Roush Fenway's Matt Kenseth in the battle for second place, he quickly started eating into Johnson's lead. Although it took him a few laps once he caught the #48 car, he finally overtook him at Turn 2, with Johnson unable to fight back.

On the final restart for the last two laps of racing, Busch was superior and pulled away to claim his 23rd Cup career win, which locks into contention for this year's title through a wildcard entry, which he most likely will not need as he may safely enter the play-off through his points position, for he currently leads the drivers' ranking.

"That [penultimate] restart there, I think I restarted fourth, and Jimmie was gone, like in three laps. I was like, 'holy cow!'" said Busch. "I didn't think there was any way I was going to run him back down. Our car was good on the long run. I felt comfortable running my pace, trying to get closer to him.

"When I got about three lengths back, I stalled out. I'm like, 'C'mon, man!. Go high, go low'. I was all over the place trying to build speed.

"Finally was able to do that and power by Jimmie and get by him. Once I got by him, I just picked the top [racing line]. That's where I wanted to be anyway. I could run some consistent times up there that were faster than him and drive away a little bit."

Johnson lamented being unable to make the most of his team's great strategy call ahead of the final round of pitstops. His second place moves him up a spot in the championship but still has only one win to his name in a season when race victories will help secure Chase positions. Michigan also remains one of only five tracks where Johnson has yet to win a Cup race.

"Once I was up front in the clean air the balance of the car was a bit too loose," said Johnson. "I got away from Kyle but I was loose and I knew he was going to come at some point and he showed up. [I'm] disappointed that I didn't win but a very good effort for the team especially when you look at where we started the race and where we finished."

Penske's Brad Keselowski rounded out yet another good weekend by finishing third, moving up two more spots in the championship and closer to the top 10 in the points. Keselowski's result means he has the best finishing record of any driver in the past four weeks, as he continues to build momentum towards the play-off. He was a top-five contender all day long but did not quite get the chance to show what he could have done in clean air.

"Wish I had something more for the #48 and #18 there at the end, but it was just really kind of watching and hoping someone would make a mistake," said Keselowski about the final restart. "I couldn't do anything on my own merit. Still a fun race, proud of the effort. The last few weeks are more than I could ever ask for."

Veteran Mark Martin, a five-time Michigan winner, was the fastest car on the last long green-flag run, but did not have chance to contend for victory. A two-tyre call early on gave him track position that he subsequently kept, being a contender on a day where Hendrick Motorsports excelled, all its cars running solidly in the top 10. Dale Earnhardt Jr was set for a top-10 finish but dropped to 14th over the final laps after pitting during the last caution.

His team-mate Gordon led 50 laps and showed enough pace to be a threat, but overheating issues due to rubbish in the grille of his car somewhat hampered his progress at different times throughout the race. He was sixth in the end behind Stewart Haas' Ryan Newman, who made progress on the final restart after pitting for two new tyres on the last caution. Making a similar move, Red Bull's Kasey Kahne was seventh at the flag ahead of RCR's Clint Bowyer and Newman's team-mate Tony Stewart.

Kenseth was the best of the Roush roster in tenth, a disappointing result given that between him and his team-mate Greg Biffle, the squad led more than half the distance. Kenseth had a poor final restart while Biffle blamed a bad set of tyres for his debacle, having led for 86 of the 203 laps. To make matters worse for Roush, its leading championship contender Carl Edwards retired with an engine problem.

With only three races left before the Chase, Denny Hamlin is in further risk of missing the play-off after hitting the wall and being forced to pit for lengthy repairs. He finished 35th and has slid down to 14th in the points despite still provisionally holding on to the final wildcard entry thanks to his Michigan win from earlier in the year.

Results - 203 laps:

Pos  Driver              Team/Car                         Time/Gap
 1.  Kyle Busch          Gibbs Toyota                 2h41m26.000s
 2.  Jimmie Johnson      Hendrick Chevrolet               + 0.568s
 3.  Brad Keselowski     Penske Dodge                     + 0.788s
 4.  Mark Martin         Hendrick Chevrolet               + 1.037s
 5.  Ryan Newman         Stewart Haas Chevrolet           + 1.826s
 6.  Jeff Gordon         Hendrick Chevrolet               + 1.949s
 7.  Kasey Kahne         Red Bull Toyota                  + 2.468s
 8.  Clint Bowyer        Childress Chevrolet              + 2.473s
 9.  Tony Stewart        Stewart Haas Chevrolet           + 2.616s
10.  Matt Kenseth        Roush Fenway Ford                + 3.034s
11.  AJ Allmendinger     Petty Ford                       + 3.143s
12.  David Ragan         Roush Fenway Ford                + 3.198s
13.  Regan Smith         Furniture Row Chevrolet          + 3.413s
14.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Hendrick Chevrolet               + 3.795s
15.  Bobby Labonte       JTG Daugherty Toyota             + 3.841s
16.  Brian Vickers       Red Bull Toyota                  + 3.845s
17.  Jeff Burton         Childress Chevrolet              + 4.016s
18.  David Reutimann     Waltrip Toyota                   + 4.017s
19.  Martin Truex Jr     Waltrip Toyota                   + 4.019s
20.  Greg Biffle         Roush Fenway Ford                + 4.025s
21.  Joey Logano         Gibbs Toyota                     + 4.105s
22.  Kevin Harvick       Childress Chevrolet              + 4.230s
23.  Jamie McMurray      Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet      + 4.389s
24.  Trevor Bayne        Wood Brothers Ford               + 4.657s
25.  Juan Pablo Montoya  Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet      + 4.770s
26.  Paul Menard         Childress Chevrolet              + 4.822s
27.  Marcos Ambrose      Petty Ford                       + 4.903s
28.  Travis Kvapil       Front Row Ford                   + 1 laps
29.  Andy Lally          TRG Chevrolet                    + 1 laps
30.  Ken Schrader        FAS Lane Ford                    + 1 laps
31.  Landon Cassill      Phoenix Chevrolet                + 2 laps
32.  David Gilliland     Front Row Ford                   + 2 laps
33.  Dave Blaney         Baldwin Chevrolet                + 5 laps

Retirements:

     Kurt Busch          Penske Dodge                     197 laps
     Denny Hamlin*       Gibbs Toyota                     188 laps
     Carl Edwards*       Roush Fenway Ford                174 laps
     Casey Mears         Germain Toyota                    32 laps
     Tony Raines         Max Q Ford                        26 laps
     Todd Bodine         HP Toyota                         21 laps
     David Stremme       Inception Chevrolet               20 laps
     Joe Nemechek        NEMCO Toyota                      18 laps
     Mike Skinner        Germain Toyota                    14 laps
     JJ Yeley            Front Row Ford                    11 laps

* Running again at finish